The Gujarat government on Friday told the High Court that it cannot share the inquiry report of an IAS officer into the death of three Dalit youths due to police firing in Thangadh in 2012. The government pleader said that the investigation into the case is still on and making it public at this stage may hamper it.

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Government pleader Mitesh Amin told the single bench of Justice J B Pardiwala that the state can share the report with the court, but it can’t make it public in the larger interest of the public. He said that there have been several protests and demonstration because of the incident in the past.

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Amin also opposed the petition moved by Valjibhai Rathod, saying that the petitioner had filed an RTI application and he was given a reply too. However, since he was not satisfied with the reply, he should have appealed before the concerned authority, but he approached the High Court.

Rathod, 42, a resident of Ambedkarnagar, Thangadh, has moved the petition seeking a copy of the report. His 16-year-old son Mehul was killed in the police firing in September 2012, along with two other Dalit youths — Prakash Parmar and Pankaj Sumra.

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Stating that the petition is not maintainable, Amin told the court that the state government can place the record before the court so that it can decide whether it can be made public or not. Justice Pardiwala, however, responded that he is not interested in the report, but if the government wishes so he will consider it.